Monday, November 30, 2009

Matisyahu at the Webster tomorrow! (12/1)

Matisyahu - the Jewish reggae artist best known for his blend of reggae, rap, rock and uplifting lyrics - is performing at the Webster tomorrow with Soja, a reggae band from Washington, D.C. opening.

Doors open at 7 at the Webster - 31 Webster St., Hartford, and tickets are $25. I'm so ready for this concert. Check back for a review!

P.S. Can you believe it's going to be December already?

Monday, November 23, 2009

Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert CDs out today!

I'm really trying to save money for Christmas presents, so I'm still deciding whether or not to buy these albums today after work. Even if I don't get them today or if I wait to get them as presents, I'm pretty excited about them.


First, I love Gaga's "Bad Romance." It's not quite overplayed on the radio yet, so I'm always waiting to hear it when I'm driving. I spent the summer constantly playing "The Fame," and because "Bad Romance" is so catchy, I'm sure I'll be listening to "The Fame Monster" just as much. The album's being released stand-alone with the eight new songs, but also in a deluxe edition with "The Fame," which is a really good deal, and I would totally get that if I didn't already own "The Fame."

Then there's Adam Lambert's "For Your Entertainment." I was distraught when Adam didn't win American Idol because he was the only reason it was worth watching this season, but I came to terms with his loss because he's going to do much better than Kris Allen. (Have you heard Allen's new single? Right.)


I remember Adam saying he would love to work with Lady Gaga, which he did right after the season of American Idol ended. They're both incredible entertainers - not just musicians, but entertainers because of their theatrical performances - so it's fitting that their albums are dropping on the same day. I'm excited to see how well they do. Also curious to see how many people buy both together.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

No more Leader magazine?!

I got a postcard in the mail today from Girl Scouts of the USA saying that the organization is suspending the publication of Leader magazine. Seriously, when I opened my mailbox and looked at the card, I reacted with a quiet "Noooo!"

The postcard reads as follows:
Given the current economic climate, we have made the hard decision to suspend publication of Leader magazine. Based on results from a reader survey conducted earlier this year, we are exploring the feasibility of producing an online version of Leader. This approach would not only result in significan tcost savings, it has the added benefit of being good for the environment. In the interim, you can log on to www.girlscouts.org/for_adults/leader_magazine/ to read the latest series of articles written by the Leader team.

I have a lifetime membership to the Girl Scouts, so when they started sending out Leader magazine, I was stoked. It was beautiful, glossy and had stories that girls and their leaders care about. For example, features on Lisa Ling and Venus Williams, plus serious articles on dealing with eating disorders. After I graduated from high school, I decided to pay for the one-shot lifetime membership so I could one day be a troop leader, and I loved the magazine.

I know it will still be published online, but its print edition will be missed.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Election Day is OVERR!

After a really hectic day and filing three stories on Plymouth plus a police story for Bristol, I'm done! Here are the Plymouth results, in case you're wondering:

Mayor: Vincent Festa Jr. (D) (He was unopposed.)
Councilman-at-large: Tom Zagurski (R)
Town Council - District 1: Martin Sandshaw (R), John Wunsch (R)
District 2: DiAnna Schenkel (D), David Sekorski (D)
Town Clerk: Barbara Rockwell (R)
Treasurer: David Barbieri (D)
Tax Collector: Linda Hood (R)
Board of Finance: Peter Cook (cross-endorsed), Victoria Carey (D)
Board of Finance to fill a vacancy: Michael Drozdick (D)
Board of Education: Anthony Orsini (D), Daniel Santorso (D), Gerard Bourbonniere (cross-endorsed), Martin Wetzel (cross-endorsed), Mark Berube (R)
Assessor: Carl Kulesa (D)
Board of Assessment Appeals: Ronald Wollenberg (R)
Constables: Lawrence Deschaine (R), Christine Ciarmella (R), Eric Pelz (R), Patric Perugino II (D)
Library Trustees: Diana Oberg (R), Cathleen Paskus (R), Arlene Wood (D)
Library Trustees to fill a vacancy: Eleanor Petke (cross-endorsed), Mary Jane Wollenberg (R)
Referendum: No to questions 1, 3, 4, Yes to question 2

(Note: the office did get pizza today, and it was kind of fun rushing to get the results in.)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Twitter Lists

Twitter launched "Twitter Lists" last week for users to organize who they follow. On top of giving me something to do while watching the Yankees game on TV and winding down from work and a busy weekend, Twitter Lists actually helped me understand how and why I use Twitter. Yes, it feels good to be organized, but it's pretty cool to see how and why you and other people use something like Twitter.

As soon as I saw that I could make Twitter Lists, I had to think of the best way to group people in as few groups as possible while still being specific. First, I noticed that I use Twitter to get a lot of my news. Second, I saw that as a journalist, I have a lot of journalist friends and follow a lot of journalists. Then I thought, this is pretty cool.

Here are the lists I came up with:
@freesiaa/entertainment
@freesiaa/humor
@freesiaa/politics
@freesiaa/journalism
@freesiaa/friends
@freesiaa/uconn
@freesiaa/music
@freesiaa/news

I'm not sure if I'll follow other user lists, but it was nice to organize these lists for myself, and it's interesting to see how other people organize their lists and who they're following the most.